Finding Solace (The Finding Series Book 4) Read online

  It never takes more than a touch and a look from him to send fire through my body. I blindly stop the video and set the phone down, never breaking eye contact.

  Running my tongue over my top lip, I reach out and run the palm of my hands up the sides of his legs. I see his eyes darken and narrow just a bit as a rumbled growl rolls out from deep within his chest.

  He takes both sides of my face into his hands and then runs the back of his fingers down the sides of my neck and over my shoulders. I feel like I could turn into a puddle.

  I waste no time in getting his pants undone and over his hips, freeing him. I quickly glance down and take in the beautiful sight of his erection.

  Using a fingertip to trace a vein, I follow with my eyes. I lean forward and use the tip of my tongue to follow the same path. Zeke stops his gentle movements and grips my shoulders. I think he’s going to stop me but instead pulls me closer to him.

  I slide my tongue around the tip and slowly take him into my mouth. I take him as far as I can, using a hand at the base so I don’t gag. Taking his balls in my other hand, I gently roll them as I apply pressure to the area right behind him.

  “That feels so good, sweet girl. Fuck, I love when you do that with your finger,” Zeke says, rocking his hips forward.

  We establish a rhythm and I apply a little more pressure, slipping the tip of my finger inside. As soon as I breach the tight rim, Zeke thrusts forward holding my head still. He lets out a loud “Fuck” and a moan, as I feel him release into my mouth. Looking up, I see his head thrown back and his face scrunched up as he continues to make short sporadic and jerky thrusts. The veins at his temples are throbbing, and it’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.

  I release him and place my chin against his lower stomach and continue to look up at him. He releases a breath of air and runs his fingers through my hair.

  Glancing down, he smiles, “I love you. I really loved that. Holy shit, sweet girl. You know how to make me lose all control. Now let me take care of you.”

  “I love you, too, and I’m good. I think I had an orgasm just watching you,” I say, placing kisses around his abdomen and over a hip.

  I feel him start to get hard again and let out a giggle. “You are a beast, aren’t you?”

  “Strip and crawl up the bed and I’ll show you,” he says, stepping out of his pants and pulling his t-shirt over his head.

  I’m naked, flat on my back with his head between my legs within seconds. He has my body humming moments later and seeing stars soon after that.

  ♦♦♦

  Our last stop before home was Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. This whole trip has been an experience I will never forget. I’ve recorded so many amazing videos. I got approval to share the impromptu jam session, but I didn’t want to load it to anywhere too public. I like my privacy and I’m sure those guys do as well. So, I decided to make a special album on Facebook. I have my privacy settings pretty tight on there.

  I was still pretty surprised. My video was shared by almost all of my two hundred friends and it seemed to go viral from there. My notifications started blowing up. My friend requests blew up. I got a whole lot of positive comments and some that were outright negative. The most surprising thing was the amount of private messages Zeke started receiving with women’s phone numbers and comments about how they were more woman than I’d ever be.

  At first, he would respond with comments of how shallow people didn’t deserve his attention. He ended up just handing me his phone and asking me to delete and block them.

  I spent most of the trip from Nashville to Pigeon Forge on both of our phones. I don’t get the nerve of people, and I regret not making the videos not sharable. Over the years, it’s become easier to remove tags and make posts less accessible. All you have to do is edit the original post and all posts that were shared then become hidden or changed to the way you want them.

  It took me a while to figure it out, but by the time we got to our hotel, the notifications and messages stopped. A seed was planted in my head, though, of self-doubt. It’s a battle and something I struggle with constantly. It’s not justified and I’m confident for the most part, but the comments that I did read made me get in my head.

  I use the bathroom and take a quick shower. I can’t seem to make eye contact with Zeke. I find an outlet and plug in my almost dead phone from all the activity today, and just crawl into bed. I close my eyes and mentally chastise myself for giving into my insecurities.

  I feel Zeke crawl into bed and pull me against his naked body. My body instantly reacts and I try to shut it down.

  “What’s going on in that head of yours, sweet girl? You’ve gone into a different world,” he says, kissing my neck.

  “It’s nothing…I’m being stupid,” I huff.

  “It’s not stupid if it makes you hurt. I can almost feel your pain. Talk to me,” he says, rolling me over and taking my chin and forcing me to meet his eyes.

  “Some of the comments were just cruel. I know it shouldn’t bother me, but they still hurt. I have no reason to doubt this, what we have. Your actions speak louder than your words. I see your love when you simply look at me. I know this. Then the little insecurities rear their ugly head and I just…let it get to me. I shouldn’t care what other people think, and I don’t…or at least I keep telling myself I don’t,” I say, breaking eye contact as a tear breaks through and rolls down my cheek.

  “You are mine. I’m proud and lucky that you are mine. I thank God every day that an incredibly beautiful woman even gives me the time of day, yet alone share these same feelings of love. I get where you are coming from. I won’t tell you to simply not listen to what people say, that’s easier said than done. I know this. I can only continue to show you through my actions and my words. Please know this…I love you, body and soul and everything else I can think of. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. When I think about my future, you are there, every step of the way,” Zeke says, laying a gentle kiss to my lips and wiping the tears that start flowing.

  “I love you, too. There is no doubt of my feelings for you. I see you when I dream of my future. I hate that I have these moments of doubt, I really do.” I take a cleansing breath. “You make me feel special. I hope I never get used to it. I don’t think I will. You have this ability to always say just the right things and with sincerity that I will never question,” I say, rolling on top of him.

  I grind myself against his hardness and the feeling of flesh on flesh ignites a fire deep in my core. With a quick reach between us, I draw him to my opening and practically impale myself on him. Fully seated inside, I grind my hips as he grabs me by the waist and thrusts up.

  We practically chant “I love you” as we meet thrust for thrust until both of us reach our peak, and I fall on top of him completely spent.

  I don’t remember falling asleep, but I must have fairly quickly. I wake to a knock at the door.

  Zeke

  I don’t get her insecurities fully, yet I do. The standard that society places on woman are unrealistic. You either have to be paper thin or have surgical implants that make you look truly unnatural.

  Gracie doesn’t need to be anything but her. She’s incredibly beautiful. She has full breasts that feel heavy in my hands. I can dig my fingers into her hips and ass, and I can’t imagine how I was ever attracted to anything less. The dimples at the bottom of her spine at the top of her ass are nothing less than kissable.

  I can’t even begin to tell you how it makes me feel when I feel her grip me from inside and have her lose all control. Her whole body just shakes and convulses when she comes. It makes me feel powerful that I’m able to please her in this way.

  I want to go all Tarzan and pound on my chest.

  I can tell that she starts breaking down and getting into her head through our drive. I can only image the comments she was subjected to, I saw a few and from the messages I started getting, I was feeling frustrated myself. I’m so glad she figured out how to shut that shit do
wn. She’s pretty savvy with technology. I was going to do my thing once we got to the hotel, but she figured it out.

  While she was in the shower, I called and ordered our breakfast for in the morning. I want to try to continue to make this memorable for her. This is a setback, but I hope it just make our bond stronger. I poured my heart out to her. I only hope she realizes that I wouldn’t be the same without her.

  I’m woken up by a knock at the door and slip on my boxers to answer it. The smell from the tray of food has my stomach growling. A few seconds later, there is another knock and I’m greeted by a delivery of flowers. Yeah, I know. I got this.

  I see Gracie stir and roll to her back, she quickly sits up against the headboard as the cover rolls over her and falls to her waist. She tries to cover herself, but I shake my head and she lets them fall back down.

  I move to the bed and place the tray in her lap. Kissing the top of her exposed breasts, I then lean down and kiss the pouch of her stomach.

  She raises the lid off of one of the plates and lets out a sigh. “Although I don’t want this to end, I need to get back to work in order to get rid of all this extra weight I’ve gained on this trip.”

  “You’ve uncovered my evil plan. Plump you up so I have more to grab hold of,” I say, raising a piece of bacon to her lips.

  Laughing, she takes a huge bite, almost nipping my fingertips in the process.

  I can’t stop staring at her breasts. I love how comfortable she seems after our conversation last night. She notices the flowers on the bedside table and mentions how incredible I am.

  Again, I know this. I just need to make sure she never forgets it or how incredible she is to me.

  The weather is seasonably warm, hovering around the mid-seventies. The trees have changed and are vibrate orange and red in color. The smoky mountains are simply gorgeous this time of year.

  We spend the day at Dollywood. It’s their harvest festival, and it’s incredible watching some artists carve pumpkins. Gracie squeezes my hand as she points out her favorites and captures it on video.

  We act like teenagers hoping from ride to ride and I’m pleased that she loves the roller coasters just as much as I do. We are both exhausted by the end of the evening and simply strip and crash in bed.

  The next morning, we pack up our things and start the journey home. I’m excited to get into a routine, even though I won’t start my new job until after the New Year. I have things I intend on doing to put down some real roots. I’ve heard you will know if it is meant to be or not by vacationing with someone. I think Gracie and I are it. This journey home has been nothing but amazing, and I’m thankful that I got to experience it with her. It was closing chapter in my life and beginning a new one that I believe will be filled with many new adventures.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Roots

  Zeke

  I want really want to stall and draw out what’s left of this trip. We haven’t discussed what’s going to happen once we return home. I see the sign for our exit and start tapping the steering wheel nervously.

  “Mind if we make a stop?” I ask.

  Gracie is staring out the window and I know she’s in her head. “Gracie,” I say again, looking back and forth from the road to her.

  “Sorry, what did you say?” she asks, looking at me and giving me a sad smile.

  “I wanted to know if you minded us making a stop. Even though it’s legal, I feel like I committed a crime transporting weed across state lines,” I laugh.

  “Oh, sure. That’s fine,” she says, shrugging and turning to look back out her window.

  “Hey…look at me,” I say and wait for her to look back. “This trip is almost over, but that’s all that’s over, right? Why so sad?”

  “I’m just not ready to get back to reality. I wish it wasn’t over,” she says, trying to smile.

  “Remember, I’m still on vacation, but I planned on helping you around the farm. We are going to see each other every day,” I say.

  “I’m going to miss my human furnace and bed hog,” she whispers.

  “You can just stay at the apartment with me. Problems solved and no missing anything,” I respond, trying to gauge her reaction.

  “You want me to move in with you?” she says with a bit of excitement returning to her voice.

  “I guess I just thought that would be the next step. If you feel it’s too soon, we can do a couple nights here and there. Better than going cold turkey. I’ve had you beside me every night for the past week. I’m not sure I can go back to sleeping alone,” I say.

  “I want to talk to Pam first. I need to make sure she’ll be okay,” Gracie says.

  “I need to talk to Gram Pam as well. If she’s not busy, let that be the first item on our agenda. But first, let me make that old man Sun happy and get this weed out of the truck,” I say, reaching out and grabbing her hand.

  All we get is a “Bout time” from Sun as he grabs the baggie and shuffles his way to a back room.

  Flower gives us each a kiss on the cheek and shuffles her way back following him. Gracie and I are left standing in their entrance way and all we can do is laugh. I really hope I’m as cool as they are when I get to their age. Hell, I just pray I make it that far.

  Gracie

  Pulling up the drive, I’m exhausted, but I want to talk to Pam. I feel like I need to get her blessing. We’ve become very close, and I look up to her like she’s my real grandmother.

  Zeke doesn’t take any of the bags out of the truck. I’m sort of glad because I really want to take them into the apartment and not the house. Pam is sitting in the living room watching TV when we walk in.

  She goes to stand but Zeke tells her not to and pulls me over to sit on the couch with her.

  “Well you two look serious. How was the trip? I watched all those videos you took, looked like you had a really good time,” Pam says.

  Zeke takes the lead, which I’m grateful. “Well two things. But to answer your question, we had a wonderful time. Didn’t we?” he says to me. I nod and smile and he continues. “We are in love and I want Gracie over at the apartment with me, and I want to buy some of your land to build a house.”

  The second part catches me off guard but has me smiling knowing he’s serious about staying. I know he is but nothing is more reassuring than investing in land and a house.

  “Well that was straight and to the point. But…I sort of had something else in mind. I could tell from the videos that you two had become really close, and I had a feeling something like this would happen. So, I started thinking, actually I set things in motion the moment I knew you were coming back home…” she hesitates and has us both motioning for her to continue.

  “This house is getting too big for me. I’d rather have the apartment, but Lord knows I wouldn’t be able to handle those steps all the time. So, I talked with Bruce about adding on. He started actually pretty quick. I’m going to have my own little quarters right off the mud room. I’ll have my own entrance, but will still be able to access the house if I need. Or if I need help, you will be able to get to me quicker,” she says stopping.

  “That sounds like a really good plan, but what does this have to do with me buying land and building a house?” Zeke asks.

  “Let me repeat, if I need help, you will be able to get to me quicker,” she says smiling.

  Zeke and I look at each other puzzled. “I still don’t get what you are trying to say here,” I say, squeezing her hand.

  “Oh, you are no fun. I thought you were smarter than this,” she says, laughing. “I want you two to have the main house. Granted it needs a little updating and remodeling, but it’s yours to do whatever you want. Make it your own.”

  “Are you serious?” I ask, getting a little excited. “I love this house. I can’t believe you would do that. What about your other grandkids or family? Zeke and I aren’t even blood.”

  “I never want to hear that kind of talk from you. You are just as much my family as anyone else. I
talked to them all about it and they all agreed it should be yours. Akia was the only other choice, and her and Doug already have started building. But I wanted you to have it, anyway.”

  “Gracie, I know how much you love this house and the farm, and Zeke, I remember how you seemed to love it when you worked here. I’m just glad you finally got your head out of your ass and realized this is and will always be home.”

  “I’m touched and would be honored to call this my home. As far as updates and remodeling go, this house doesn’t need much. A big screen over the mantel, converting your downstairs bedroom into an office. Oh, and we don’t need five bedrooms upstairs. I plan on Gracie spitting out a few of my kids, but I think we can give up the small one next to the master to convert into an attached bathroom and walk in closet…” Zeke says, standing and looking around with a huge smile on his face.